


Man in the moon

by Vik_toria3899



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, a little bit of angst but not really, alternative universe, hardzello
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27031870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vik_toria3899/pseuds/Vik_toria3899
Summary: Ben and his friends just wanted a few days away from everthing else. During their stay at a beautiful beach, they meet Joe Mazzello, who is the owner of several big restaurants in the UK. This man faszinates Ben, and turnes the little trip, and possibly his whole life, upside down.
Relationships: Ben Hardy/Joe Mazzello
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo, this is my first fanfic I actually feel confident to post. English isn't my first language, but I hope that doesn't change the quality of this story :p  
> Also, it's been like two years since I wrote the first and also the second chapter, but I hope it's still enjoyable. Also, I have no idea why I chose that title back then, but I'm not that creative so I'll keep it :)  
> I hope you enjoy this alternative universe fanfic about Joe and Ben.

"Wow look at that! I can’t believe it! That’s an old-timer, Ben! Do you have any idea how much that thing costs?”

I was just exiting my car and joined my friends who all stood in front of the car.

“I always wanted to drive a car like that. You could’ve told me that your neighbors out here are rich!”

Gwilym kept on fangirling about the car, which obviously was cool, but he just overreacted a bit. I was wondering, how the old couple Grey could afford an expensive car like this one. But then I shrugged my shoulders. It was none of my business. I turned around to my car and started unpacking our suitcases. Lucy started helping me with it.  
She started very shy: “By the way, thanks for asking me, if I wanted to come with you guys. That was very sweet of you.”

I smiled at her. I actually wanted to ask Allen, but he had too much work at home, so he refused, but Lucy didn’t have to know that she was the second option. Besides that, Rami seemed very happy as I told him Lucy would come as well. Maybe he had a thing for her, who knew.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you had time”, I said to her with a smile on my face.

She smiled back at me.

“Are you two coming? Rami and I are starving, we need something to eat. Now!”, Gwil shouted from the porch of my father’s summer residence.

We laughed at that statement and moved to the front porch. I took out the keys and let my friends in. I said that they could put their stuff in their rooms, and I would prepare a meal. I volunteered, because cooking was one of my favorite things to do, and I would say that I cook pretty good. Even with the few things we had bought on our way to the beach, I conjured a lunch for us. We should by food at the nearby town later that day, so we would have enough to eat the next few days.   
The little town was only ten minutes away, so we could get there by foot. While I was preparing the food, I lost myself in thoughts. I thought about how I spent my childhood summers in this house. It was a strange feeling to be back here, after so many years have passed. Hopefully the old town hasn’t changed too much. I only knew that they were actually building one of these new restaurants that got pretty famous in London already. These are a five-star restaurants, as far as I remembered from the article I read.  
When we finally sat at the dining table, and my friends had finished giving me compliments about the food, I told them about my plans for this afternoon:

“Guys, I’d say we go to the town after we finished and I’ll show you around a bit. We could also buy something for the breakfast tomorrow. After that we could jump into the sea, or we could go for a walk on the beach. Whatever you want. How does that sound?”

My friends were all okay with my suggestion and after they all nodded, we finished our lunch in a comfortable silence.

The town hadn’t changed much, at least the spots that I remembered hadn’t. After we bought all the groceries for the dinner tonight and tomorrows breakfast we went back to the house, that would be our home for the next week. The others wanted to go swimming, so I joined them.   
The waves were great, and the water was cool but that had something nice about it. In the evening I cooked again and after we finished eating, Gwilym, Lucy and Rami nearly kicked me out of the kitchen because they wanted to do the dishes. I offered my help, but Rami said because I already prepared the food, they could at least do that.

“Message received, guys, you don’t have to kick me out, I’m going”, I told them laughing.

I went out and sat on the terrace and watched the dark sea in the moonlight. We came here to let all the stress behind. It was our last year of university, and some of us didn’t really know what we wanted to do after it. Well, at least I didn’t. My dad wanted me to start in his company, but I knew that working in an office wasn’t what I really wanted. The problem was that I didn’t know a single thing that I wanted to do either. I had studied business management, only because my dad wanted me to.   
I just wanted to-

“It’s really beautiful out here.”

A voice to my left interrupted me in my thought and made me jump. I stumbled backwards, nearly fell but could just in time grab onto the handrail. With my hand on my throbbing heart, I turned my head to look in the direction of the mysterious voice. In front of the neighbor’s house there stood a man. I realized that this was not Mr. Grey but rather a younger man, even though it was dark so I couldn’t really tell what he looked like. He had a big grin on his face, probably because I looked like a mess.

“Did I scare you? That really wasn’t my intension, sorry”, the young man said. I could even hear the laughter in his voice.

“Doesn’t matter, I just get scared easily”, I said calmly, even though I was still recovering from the shock he’d gave me a few seconds ago.

The young man said in a good temper: “By the way, I’m your new neighbor. The family that lived here moved out and then I bought the house. I just couldn’t resist, it’s a well-preserved house at the beach so I was willing to pay the high price the Greys demanded.”

I immediately asked: “Then this car in front our houses is yours too?”

He nodded.

In that very moment when I wanted to introduce myself to him, Gwilym walked out the terrace as well: “Ben, come back in, we finished the dishes and…oh, hey there!”

“Gwilym, that’s our neighbor. Our new neighbor actually. The car in front of the house belongs to him.”

Gwilym’s eyes began to light a bit: “Wow, that’s pretty impressive, mate! How do you even have the money to buy a car like that? It’s actually one of my favorite cars!”

“I really like it as well that’s why I couldn’t resist. I actually have two of those”, the handsome stranger replied.

Our jaws dropped at that statement. How could he even afford that, he didn’t look that much older?

When he saw our reaction, he started to laugh and after he calmed down a bit, he said: “Sorry about that little joke right there, but your faces were hilarious. I only got that one, don’t get a heart attack.”

After we finished laughing at his stupid joke, an awkward silence laid upon us.

It was the stranger next door that started the conversation again: “Well, it’s already late. Bye, guys. Oh, and by the way, my name’s Joe.”

He waved at us but before we even could wave our hands in respond, he was already back inside his house.

After two hours of funny games and some wine with my friends, I decided to go upstairs and get some sleep.   
The man next doors was still in my head. Why did he look so familiar? Maybe I was just imagining that part… even though I was sure, I’ve seen him before… He didn’t tell us his last name, so I can’t even look him up. Wow, I sounded like a stalker.   
I should distract myself I thought and started to unpack my suitcase. I picked a white t-shirt and fresh underwear and went into the bathroom.   
After I was done, I sat down on the chair next to the window. I could see the beach only because the moon was shining so bright tonight. I could also see the house next to ours. It was dark, so Joe was already asleep.   
Joe…what a pretty name. My mouth formed his name in a whisper.   
I shook my head. Why was I so obsessed with the guy who lived next door, I had just met him!?   
My thoughts went elsewhere, as I looked at the waves for a bit. I realized that I was already really tired and decided to go to sleep.   
My last thought, or maybe even wish before I fell asleep was that I hoped to see Joe again soon, and also how weird that was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't judge me for this weird chapter haha, it's so stupid but I hope you like it anyway.  
> Also, if there's any false information then I'm sorry, I actually tried to research for this chapter :p.

“Come on Ben, hurry up. We want to go to the beach!” 

Rami and Lucy were already outside waiting for Gwilym and me.   
I stepped on the terrace and watched the water, which looked beautiful in the early morning light. Gwilym passed me and I also buried my feet in the warm sand and ran after him to catch up with my friends, that were already running towards the water.   
Right before I got to join them, I saw a familiar figure walking towards the houses. I waved at the man we got to know yesterday, and he slowed down and walked in our direction.   
He looked great in the sunlight. His auburn hair looked a bit messy under the cap he wore.   
I was watching him and noticed that his face was distinctive but also had a soft touch to it, something I hadn’t really noticed yesterday in the dark. He was wearing black sunglasses and light brown cargo shorts with a grey button up shirt, which exposed his chest. I caught myself staring so I blushed a bit, but he didn’t seem to notice it. 

“Hey guys, what’s up?” 

He shook our hands very professional.

When he shook Lucy’s hand, I spoke up for her: “That’s Lucy, and this”, I pointed at my other friend, “is Rami. You already know Gwil and me. Guys, that’s our neighbor, Joe…uh…” 

“Joe Mazzello”, he replied and looked at us with this warm and welcoming smile. 

After he said his name, my brain started working and I realized why he seemed so familiar to me.

“Wait, are you joking again? Aren’t you the one that owns these new restaurants all over the UK?” 

Joe giggled and nodded slightly. 

“Yep that’s me. I’m actually from New York but you’re right, you find my restaurants only in the UK. Weird, I know.” 

He laughed again. I thought about where I had read his name, because I was sure they mentioned his age in this article as well. He might be 36, maybe 37, something around that.   
I didn’t want to ask, because it might’ve seemed rude, so I kept my mouth shut. I caught a look at Lucy and Rami, who were both very impressed by what Joe just told us. 

An awkward silence spread again, so Joe quickly said: “It was a pleasure meeting you.” 

He waved at us, like he did yesterday, turned around and jogged back to where he just came from.   
After he was far away enough for him to not hear us anymore, Lucy and Gwilym had a little fangirl attack.   
They were talking about how sweet he was and how handsome he was looking.  
I agreed with them in silence and Rami just laughed and said with a smirk: “Oh my god Gwil, are you developing feelings for another man than me? I feel betrayed!” 

He started to tickle him, Gwilym squealed and they both ran into the water, like two six-year olds trying to be the last one that gets dunked.   
Lucy and I laughed at their childish behavior, looked at each other and ran into the water as well. 

Two hours passed by and after we took a little break from all the dunking and swimming and laughing, I suggested to swim a bit. Everyone agreed, and after a few minutes we all got tired.   
It still felt wonderful, letting all the things behind you, keep on the movements and not really thinking about anything.   
It was peaceful. Peaceful until I heard a scream behind me.   
It was Lucy. Rami looked terrified and Gwil looked at me in shock. We all didn’t quite understand what was going on.   
Lucy was still screaming in pain and after we asked multiple times what was going on, Gwilym noticed something in the water. 

“Guys, she got stung by a jellyfish! We have to get her out of the water immediately!” 

Rami and I started to panic and Gwil was trying to get Lucy away from the dangerous animal, but we were still too far away from the shore. 

We were fucked. 

We kept on swimming slowly, all trying to help Lucy stay on the surface.   
Then I heard weird sounds. It sounded like a boat. Not a motorboat, those are louder. Maybe a sailing boat. As soon as I realized this and saw the sailing ship I started screaming for help.   
The boat already headed in our direction. I sighted in relief. At least we didn’t have to worry about a drowning Lucy anymore.   
When the boat finally pulled up next to us, I realized it was Joe. Of course, he had a boat as well… He looked worriedly at us and I just screamed “Jellyfish.”   
He understood immediately and pulled Lucy on the boat. Gwil and Rami got on it as well, I myself got pulled up on the boat by Joe, who had stronger arms than I expected.

As soon as I we all were safe on board, Joe took a quick look at Lucy’s wound. Rami looked like he would hyperventilate every second.   
Gwilym told Joe what happened. Joe nodded and said that we have to put vinegar on the wound to get the tentacles off her skin to keep them from burning even more of it.   
He told us to wait, he had a small kitchen on the boat, and he was pretty sure he had some vinegar left. After two minutes or so he returned with a half empty bottle of vinegar.   
He poured it on the affected skin on Lucy’s leg. After that he pulled the tentacles of with a tweezer which he also brought with him. 

“Now we have to cool the wound. I’ll get some ice. Can someone of you maybe help me with that, we need lots of ice…” 

I nodded and stood up. 

“Gwil, watch out on Lucy”, I told him, “and Rami too…he doesn’t look that good.” 

I followed Joe in the little kitchen on his sailing boat. It was really tiny but kind of cute. Joe opened the fridge and poured some ice in a bowl. 

“Here, get this to them. I’ll get some more.”

I looked at him still in shock and he noticed. 

With a soothing voice he stroked over my arm lightly: “Hey, you alright? It’s going to be all right, there aren’t any very dangerous species of jellyfish around here. Lucy will be fine, as long as we keep the wound cool and her out of the water.” 

I nodded but stayed quiet for a second. My gaze wandered to his hand, still stroking my arm.   
Were these weird feelings in my stomach because of the shock, or because of Joe’s touch? I must’ve looked pretty absent because Joe gave my shoulder a little pat. My gaze went up to meet his and he just looked at me with the most understanding facial expression and it made my heart melt. I forced a smile on my face, and he smiled back at me. 

Then I said with a scratchy voice: “Thank you, Joe. For everything.” 

“No problem, man. Let’s get the ice to Lucy and then I’ll get you four back to the shore.” 

After we put the ice on the wound Lucy visibly calmed down. Rami also seemed to feel better, so Joe got us back to the shore, as he had told me a few minutes before. He stopped a few meters before the boat would’ve met the ground. 

“Sorry, guys, but you need to get off here. You should carry Lucy though; her wound should not meet saltwater. When you’re in the house, give her more ice. That’s all you can do. If it gets worse than it is right now, tell me, then we should consider taking her to the hospital.”   
“Thank you so much Joe. We probably wouldn’t have made it without you.”

Gwilym smiled at Joe thankfully. Rami nodded as well. 

“How can we repay you for this, Joe? Is there something we can do?”, Lucy asked, trying to smile through the pain. 

Joe shook his head with small smile on his lips: “No, thank you, but no. I’m just happy you all are fine, and I hope that your wound will heal well, Lucy.” 

“I got an idea!”, Rami said excitedly, “how about you come over for dinner. Ben is a fantastic cook!”

My friends all agreed with Rami. Those bastards… 

“Guys, Joe owns noble restaurants, he probably won’t even like anything I cook, and I don’t want to embarrass myself.” 

Before I could say anything else, Joe smiled and said: “I’d love to come! If it’s ok with you, Ben. When should I be there?” 

I wanted to say that I still wasn’t so sure about all of this, but Gwilym took over: “Umm, maybe at 7 p.m.? Then we have enough time to go shopping for groceries first and Ben has time to prepare everything. See you later, Joey! And thanks again, mate!” 

They all got off the boat, and Gwil carried Lucy over to the beach. 

I looked at Joe for another second, then I started looking at my feet: “Okay then, I guess I’ll see you tonight?” 

Joe probably realized that I was still a bit uncomfortable, so he decided to pull me into a quick hug, before he said: “Yes, I’m looking forward to the dinner.” 

I looked at him again and just had to smile. How cute can a person be? 

“See you later, Benjamin.” 

He laughed and I replied: “See you later, Joseph.”

I turned around quickly because I was blushing again and jumped of the boat. My friends were waiting for me, and together we went back to our house. 

“That’s enough water and wildlife for a day”, Lucy sighted, and we all started laughing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's getting romantic :> also a little Queen reference haha  
> Hope you'll like the new chapter!

Lucy took a nap while me and the boys and I went grocery shopping. I ordered them to search all the things I needed, and they weren’t even complaining, because I was the one who would cook.   
When we came back to our house, I shooed the others out the kitchen.   
I needed to concentrate on the food preparation, everything should be perfect, and I didn’t want to be a prick because I’d boss everyone around in the kitchen.   
They were better off without helping.   
After two hours of preparation I was nearly finished.   
I looked at the clock and my heart sank into my boots. It was nearly 7 p.m.! I hadn’t had time to set the table. I stumbled into the living room and the dishes were already places around the table and arranged nicely. 

“Hey mate, you really thought we’d let you do the cooking part AND the arrangement of the dishes? We wanted to help you at least a bit.” 

“Thanks, guys. Should I change my clothes? They look pretty fucked up after these two hours…” 

“No time, mate. He’s already here!”, Rami said from the window. 

He immediately opened the door for Joe and let him in. I hadn’t even time to be nervous about the fact that Joe fucking Mazzello was going to eat my dishes. He knew what good food tasted like.   
What if he hated it? 

Rami smiled at Joe and gave him a hug: “Hey, Joe! So good to see you.”

Joe nodded with a grin on his face. 

“Hey guys…Again, thanks for inviting me over for dinner. As a thank you, I brought you a little something.” 

He showed us a bottle of wine, and not exactly a cheap one.   
Gwil looked at him with big eyes.   
“Why are you bringing a gift? This evening gathering is a thanks to you! You shouldn’t have brought anything.” 

“Well, if you don’t want it, I’ll take it with me after dinner”, Joe said sarcastically. 

“No, that’s not what I meant, I…”, Gwilym stuttered and everyone started laughing. 

“Thank you, Joe.” 

Lucy looked at him with a warming smile and Joe smiled back. Then his gaze wandered to me. I just smiled lightly and raised my hand to greet him as well. 

“I’m looking forward to the dinner you prepared, Ben.” 

“Good that you mentioned it. We can start right now if you’re all hungry?” 

Agreeing mutters from my friends and a nod from Joe were enough for me to speed into the kitchen again and serve the first dish. 

I was preparing the last dish in the kitchen, when Joe walked in. I smiled at him but concentrated on my work again.   
I wanted to decorate the plates to make the dish look more presentable.   
He leaned against the kitchen counter and watched me.

“You’re a really good cook, Ben.”

I loved the way he said my name. 

I smiled, finally looking back at him: “Thank you. I’m so glad you like it.”

Joe smirked in return, then he suggested: “Hey, can I show you something?”

I nodded and handed him the spoon. 

“If you do it like this…see, it looks even smoother. Don’t you think so?”

I just nodded with a little smile on my face while my gaze fixated on the movements of his hand. 

“Here, now you try.”

He handed me the spoon back and his hand guided mine. I fixated his hand, that was cupping mine and felt a light tingle, everywhere his hand touched my skin.   
He was moving our hands gentle and didn’t let go. I was so perplexed by this.   
Why was he doing this?   
This didn’t feel like he just wanted to quickly show me… And the more interesting question was: why did I react like this?   
Why did my stomach hurt but felt tingly at the same time?   
I didn’t want this intimate moment to be over, but I felt that I was starting to blush, and I moved my hand a bit, so he let go of it.   
Then he helped me carry the plates to the table, even though I told him not to, he was still our guest. 

The wine tasted great and after two glasses I already felt better.   
I wasn’t nervous in Joe’s presence anymore, or at least not that nervous as the last few times. Gwilym raised his glass. 

“A toast. To Joe, our hero of the day!” 

Everyone cheered, and Joe turned a bit red. That suited him, I thought. 

“We wouldn’t have known what to do without you. To you, Joe!”, Lucy agreed, and we all nodded.

Joe smiled at us. 

“I’m happy I could help and I’m glad that you all came back healthy.” 

Rami raised his glass as well and said: “To new friendship!” 

We clinked glasses.   
The evening was long, and we had much fun. After the wine bottle was empty, Gwil found some Whiskey in the kitchen.   
I put on some music on the record player. A compilation of Queen songs seemed to be a good choice. After I put the record in, Joe came up to me, a glass of Whiskey in hand. 

“You like Queen?” 

I looked at him and smiled: “Yes, they are actually my favorite band. I know basically every song. I can even play the drums a bit. I always admired Roger Taylor.” 

“Ah, a Roger Taylor fan.” He winked. I chuckled at that expression. 

“I personally like John Deacon. Even though he seems like a quiet guy, I think he’s got something fascinating about him.” 

We sat down on the sofa and talked about Queen a little more.   
A while later, we started watching Rami and Lucy dancing to Under Pressure.   
They would make a cute couple, I thought. I locked eyes with Gwil who clearly thought the same. They were adorable together.

A little later that night, Joe said: “It’s already pretty late, and I know myself, if I stay longer, I’ll have myself another drink and then another one and then you’d have to carry me home.” 

I laughed at that joke of his but nodded in agreement shortly after. He was right, it was already late, and it had been an exhausting day. 

Joe said his goodbyes to all of us, but before he could hug me as well as the other, I said: “I’ll come with you. Wanted to go for a walk anyway.” 

Joe just nodded and we left the house.   
We walked over the beach in the direction of his house. Our hands brushed against each other softly, but neither Joe nor I said anything.   
A comfortable silence hovered between us, and when we arrived at his porch, he turned around. 

“Thanks for guiding my way back. I’m actually slightly drunk, so maybe I could’ve just fallen over and broken a leg or something.” 

He chuckled at his own joke. “Anyways, thank you. I hope I’ll see you soon.” 

“Maybe tomorrow”, I said. 

“Yes, maybe tomorrow”, he repeated. “But I don’t want to rescue anyone of you again.” 

We both started laughing. 

“I’ll keep an eyes on Lucy and the boys, don’t worry.” 

“Good. Sleep well, Ben.” 

He winked at me, and I blushed again.   
He seemed to think about something, but before I could wonder what it was, he moved forward and kissed me on the cheek.   
After that gesture that I didn’t know how to interpret, he opened the door and went in. Before I could say good night to him in return, he had already closed his door.   
Wow, that was weird.

When I returned to our house I sat down on the stairs to the terrace.   
I had to think for a bit, and the alcohol in my body wasn’t really helping.   
Why did Joe kiss my cheek? That was weird. Or was it? Maybe he did this all the time, who knew.   
But now to another question… Why was I not really myself around Joe?   
I was always nervous, blushed all the time and just couldn’t stop smiling when he smiled at me.   
I wasn’t gay, was I? I mean, I had a relationship once, but that didn’t last long. Probably because my ex-girlfriend had cheated on me…   
And what if I were gay?   
What would that mean for my life?   
What would change? Before I could get lost deeper in my own thoughts, I felt a presence next to me. It was Lucy. 

“Hey, Ben. The boys already went to bed. What are you doing?” 

“Thinking”, I murmured. 

“It’s a great place to think. I wanted to do the same actually but now that we’re already talking, I thought maybe you want to talk about whatever it is that’s going on between you and Joe. And I know you probably don't want to which is totally okay. But can you just listen instead? Because… I got a problem.” 

I looked at her, and she looked really wasted.   
I really didn’t want to know, how she figured out, I had thought about Joe, and I didn’t want to talk about it either. 

Instead I said: “Lucy, you can always talk to me; you don’t have to ask. And of course, I’ll listen.” 

Lucy had tears in her eyes but tried to smile through them. 

“Thank you, Ben. And you can also always talk to me.”

“Perhaps I’ll get back to your offer.” 

I wrapped my arm around her, and she sobbed: “I think I like Rami. I mean, I like like him.”

I looked at her with a understanding expression. 

“I’m aware of the fact that we basically just met and that we don’t know each other that well, but… I don’t know how to explain this.” 

She wiped the tears of her face. 

“And now I don’t know what to do. I’m pretty sure, he doesn’t even like me that much. But he’s so sweet and generous and just a lovely human being. I’m sorry for crying, I just can’t handle my feelings sometimes.” 

After she spoke, she kept sobbing quietly and I was trying to process what she just told me. When she stopped sobbing, I turned a bit, so I was facing her. 

“Before I start, let me tell you, I’m really bad at these talks. I’ll try my best though. Look, I personally think it’s very sweet that you like Rami. It doesn’t matter that you two don’t know each other well. If you like him, you like him. That’s not something to be ashamed about. Let me tell you, when you two danced today, I thought you’d be a great couple.” 

She looked at me: “You really think so?” 

“Absolutely! And the way Rami looks at you, he might like you as well.” 

“Now you’re just making things up.” 

Lucy laughed and looked to the ground smiling.   
In that moment I realized, how much she really liked him. I noticed, how much she wanted me to be right. That he liked her as well. 

“I don’t really have an idea what you can do about it, but maybe you should wait a bit, and maybe things develop a certain way. Maybe try and spend some time alone, talk about stuff and when the right moment comes, tell him how you feel. And even if he wouldn’t feel the same about you, he’d definitely stay your friend, I know Rami.” 

Lucy finally looked at me and smiled. 

“Thank you so much, Ben. For everything. I’ll try my best. You sure, you don’t wanna talk?” 

I just shook my head: “No thank you Luce, I’m fine. I just have to figure some things out first. But when I got them figured out, I’ll definitely talk to you.” 

I smiled at her and she hugged me tight. 

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon, Benny”, she whispered. I just nodded in agreement, even though I wasn’t so sure about it. 

“Let’s try to get into our beds without waking the others up”, she giggled. 

“Hm, maybe we should be extra loud.” She laughed at my joke.

When I finally sank into the sheets of my bed, my thoughts were still a mess.   
But now there was a new though: Lucy liked Rami. That was so sweet. They’d be an amazing couple.   
That was the last thing I had on my mind before I fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my favorite chapters, hope you'll like it as much as I do :)

When I woke up, I noticed right away that I had a bit of a headache. Probably too much wine.   
I got up and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for my friends. 

After I finished, I went upstairs and shouted: “Wake up guys, breakfast is ready!”

After a while they nearly crawled out of their beds and walked towards the kitchen with me.   
When they finally all sat at the table together, I handed them some aspirin. They all looked like they needed it. 

“How are you? Feeling well?”, I joked and looked at my friends with a smirk on my face. 

Gwil moaned: “Why are you so loud? You’re literally screaming.” 

He held his head. 

“I think I’ll go back to sleep.” 

Rami only nodded and Lucy just sat there with her coffee in hand already zoned out again. Was I really the only one who was in a good mood? 

“So, I’m guessing that we don’t go and see the cliffs today?” 

“Hell no, mate.” 

Again, it was Gwilym who answered for the others and himself. 

“Well then, I’ll find myself new friends for today.” 

I giggled and my friends just nodded. They weren’t even listening to a word I just said.   
After breakfast, I was alone in the living room again. I thought about going to the beach or maybe to the town to buy groceries. That seemed like a good idea.   
It wasn’t that warm yet, so if I went swimming, I would probably freeze to death or something. A little trip to the town it’ll be then. 

When I had all the groceries I needed, I paid and walked out of the little supermarket. I wanted to head back to the house, but someone tapped my shoulder.   
When I turned around, I saw a grinning Joe in front of me. 

“Hey”, he said, clearly in a good mood. 

“Hey as well.”

I answered in the same good temper. 

“Can I give you a hand?” 

He pointed at the big grocery bags in my hands. I nodded and thanked him. I handed him one bag and our hands brushed slightly.   
The touch lasted for a second or maybe less, but it felt like a little lightning. As we went back to the house there was a pondering silence between the two of us.   
We walked close. Or was that just my brain making things up again? Maybe I normally walk as close to Gwil as I did to Joe now. Maybe that’s just the first time that I realized it.   
I should pay more attention to my actions, I thought. 

When we were back at home, Joe helped me to carry the bags to the kitchen and he even helped me to get them out of the bags in the refrigerator.   
After we were done, Joe asked if I wanted to go swimming.   
It was warmer than an hour ago, so I agreed and told him to wait for me outside.   
I got my bathing trunks from my room and went outside as well.   
Joe looked at me with a smirk. For a moment I had the feeling he was…checking me out? No, must’ve been another thing my brain just invented. 

“Ready?”, he asked. 

“Ready when you are.” 

Then he screamed: “The last one is a chicken”, and he sprinted towards the water. 

As long as I stayed in the water, I felt like myself again.   
I was myself around Joe.   
We swam for what felt like hours, talked and laughed and when we were both too tired to swim any longer, we got out of the water and lied down in the warm sand. We weren’t talking much, both exhausted from the fun we just had in the water. 

I dozed off for a few minutes and when I woke up again, I looked to my side.   
Joe was still there, his cap covering his face and protecting it from the sun.   
I looked at him for a while, but he must’ve felt my stare, because he lifted his cap and turned his head around as well.   
A beautiful pair of brown eyes stared at me.   
I turned red immediately and sat up. That was awkward. He literally caught me staring at him.   
I just wanted to burry myself in the sand. Joe sat up as well. From the corner of my eyes I saw him smiling. 

We were sitting there in a comfortable silence, when Joe said: “By the way, I wanted to tell you one more time that the dinner yesterday was delicious. It was well prepared and also so nicely presented. I loved it.” 

I looked at him with big eyes: “Thank you so much, Joe. Again. You have no idea what that means to me, especially when it comes from you.” 

“Why, because I have a few restaurants or because you like me?” 

He winked at me.   
I was so shocked at his statement that I immediately looked away and turned red again: “Umm…uh, because you have these restaurants of course. I mean, you know what good food tastes like, you know…”, I stuttered. 

Joe just laughed at my uncomfortableness. 

“What I also wanted to ask you…I wanted you to meet one of my chef cooks”, Joe said, and as he went on with his offer: “I think he would be thrilled to meet you, because you are a really talented cook.” 

Now I was even more confused than ever: “Woah…I mean, wow, that’s a big honor for me. I…uh, thank you. But why would your chef cook be interested in me? All I do is cook a bit, nothing special…” 

“Are you kidding me? You are so talented; you can’t tell me that you don’t know that!” 

I shrugged: “I don’t see myself as someone special. Most of the days I just hope I’m good enough.” 

Joe looked at me with a sad expression in his eyes. 

“I know that feeling so well, Ben.” 

I looked at him with disbelieve.

“Even though you are one of the youngest and success fullest people I’ve ever heard of?”   
“Yes, even I sometimes think that I’m not enough. The thing is, I love my job, I wouldn’t want another. But yes, sometimes I just feel anxious about everything. The future, my current life, my restaurants and so on.” 

I just nodded in understandment. I put my hand on his arm to comfort him. 

“I’m sure everything’s going to be alright. Don’t worry too much about stuff that hasn’t even happened yet. Do what you want in the very moment and don’t overthink things.” 

I was looking in his brown eyes, and he was looking back in my green ones. He looked at my hand that still was on his arm and smiled slightly.   
Then he looked at me again.   
We were close.  
I didn’t even realize how close.   
He placed his hand on my cheek and stroked it softly. I instinctively leaned into his touch.   
The next moment all I felt were his soft lips. His lips that fit onto mine perfectly.   
He kissed me, at first very softly and insecure, but after I started kissing him back, he clearly relaxed more.   
I was the one who stopped the kiss.   
I breathed in for a second and looked at him. He looked really confused himself, but then I couldn’t do anything but to kiss him again.   
It felt so good, so real, so normal. It felt right.   
Joe’s hands were still cupping my face but slowly he moved them into my messy hair, that was still a bit wet. I placed one of my hands on his chest. 

After we both needed air, we parted again and looked at each other in shock. What just happened? 

As the oxygen finally reached my brain, I realized what I had done: “I’m so sorry, uh, I didn’t…mean to? I’m not sure, I wasn’t even thinking, I… you make me nervous.”

Joe looked at me in disbelieve: “Well, you were the one who kissed me back AND started to kiss me again. Seemed like you knew what you were doing. I just did what you told me. I was trying to not overthink my actions and just went for it.” 

For some reason, his explanation made me smile. I didn’t know exactly why; not yet at least. 

“So, what do we do now?”, I asked. 

He thought for a moment: “I have to think about this for a bit. Don’t be mad at me though, it doesn’t mean I didn’t like it or didn’t want it. I mean, I was the one who started kissing you the first place. Should I apologize?” 

“Don’t”, I immediately said. “I get what you mean, Joe. I have to think a bit about this as well, but is it weird if I say I also liked it?” 

“Not weird at all.” 

Joe smiled at me. 

“Can I have your number? I think it would be a lot easier if I could text you.” 

After I gave him my number, we said our goodbyes and went back to our houses.   
Now may be the right time to talk to Lucy, I thought.


	5. Chapter 5

I opened the door and sank to the ground as soon as I closed it behind me. I buried my head in both my hands and exhaled loudly.   
When I looked up, Lucy was sitting on the couch with another cup of tea, watching me. 

“You want to talk about it now?”, she asked curiously. 

I looked at her and sighted. It was probably for the best. I nodded at her, stood up and went to the kitchen, to get myself a coffee as well. Then I sat down next to Lucy. 

“Tell me what happened”, she said encouragingly. 

“Well, it’s kind of a longer story.” 

She just nodded and suggested me to just try and start. 

“Well, ok…I don’t really know with what to start. I, uh… I think I like Joe.” 

Lucy looked at me curiously. 

“I mean, I like him. Really like him. The thing is, I’m not gay. At least I thought so till now. So, I don’t know what to think about that all.” 

I stayed silent for a bit, to think about what I just said. 

“Well, I don’t know if I can help you figure out your sexuality, but you can just go on and tell me everything that’s on your mind. Maybe you’ll figure something out by yourself while you talk. Also, just to mention it…you know that there are more sexualities, than straight and gay, right? Maybe you’re bi. I’m just saying, don’t worry too much about how you identify right now. The only thing that matters right now is that you have to confront yourself with your own feelings.” 

I thought about her arguments for a second. It made sense, I just needed to go through this step by step. I sighted, then kept on talking: “Ok so let’s continue with the story. The thing is, I noticed that I was always nervous around Joe and that I was always blushing and just not really myself around him.”

Or more myself than ever before, I thought. 

“Yesterday, when I went back to his house with him, he gave me a kiss on the cheek and that was why I was so confused when we talked afterwards. And today, I met him while I was buying groceries, after that he’d helped me get them home, and then we went swimming. Everything was cool until we were laying on the beach together and we started talking about how we both sometimes feel like we are not good enough for everyone else, and he told me that he sometimes felt anxious about his future and all. I tried to comfort him, so I put my hand on his arm and told him, that he maybe should just do things he wants to do, and not think about them too long. Then everything went down so quickly. He kissed me. But this time on the mouth. And the weird thing was I-… I kissed him back without hesitation.” 

Lucy looked at me in though: “Well, if he kissed you, that probably means he likes you too. And you said you kissed him back?” 

“Not only that. I pulled back first and then kissed him again. And to be honest…I never felt these feelings I felt when I kissed him before. So, maybe I am…gay? I don’t know!”

I buried my face in my hands again. 

Lucy padded my shoulder comfortingly and said: “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out. Don’t stress yourself about it.” 

“The thing is, he said he needs to think about all of this. But he asked me for my number, so maybe he’ll text me when he’s ready to talk. But what if I’m not ready?”

“Then you tell him you need more time. He will definitely understand it.” 

“Don’t you think he’ll be mad then?”, I asked her.

“Not at all. I don’t know him that well, but I can tell that he wouldn’t be mad at you for something like that.” 

That made me smile. Lucy was right. 

“So, what should we do today?”, she asked after a few seconds of silence. 

“We could go for a walk to the city. Or we could still visit the cliffs, the day is still not over. And I’m sure the sunset would look great from up there”, I suggested. 

“And you and Rami could maybe spend some time watching it together, while I’ll drag Gwil off somewhere else.”

I laughed and winked at her. She started blushing and smiled at me. 

“That would be great. Let’s wake them up.” 

After we convinced Rami and Gwil to go to the cliffs with us, we packed some snacks, water and a flashlight and headed in the direction of the rocks.   
We walked for one hour and while we hiked, I tried to give Lucy and Rami the opportunity to get a little talk in private. Gwilym and I leaded our little group, because we had a map and tried to figure out the right way. That was the chance for Lucy to really talk to Rami, maybe even about profound things like what they wanted to do after they finish with University.   
Whenever Gwil started to talk to Rami again I dragged him with me and said we needed to find the best path. That happened only two times before Gwil asked, what my problem was exactly. I looked at him with a ‘are you for real?’ face and glanced at Lucy, who was giggling at a joke Rami had made. 

Gwil looked at me with big eyes: “You mean…?” 

“Yes, she likes him. And I promised her to give them at least a little privacy.” 

“Mate you won’t believe me now, but Rami told me he likes Lucy too! We have to tell them!”, Gwil seemed excited about the news.

I shook my head: “No, we don’t tell them! Are you crazy? They obviously like each other, even the seagulls over our heads can tell. They got to figure it out on their own, the only thing we can do is help.”

“And how do we do that exactly, Mister ‘I know how to start a relationship’?” 

“We get them to watch the sunset together, duh”, I winked at Gwil. 

He just nodded knowingly and smiled. He was as glad as I was to see our friends so happy.   
When we finally arrived at the cliffs, we sat down in the grass and ate our snacks we brought, Gwil and I with a little gap to Lucy and Rami. We talked with them now because they seemed happy just sitting next to each other. 

“It was a great idea to come here. It feels magical”, Lucy sighted with a smile. 

She seemed like she had really found her peace, sitting here next to Rami. I smiled at her and Gwil glanced at me with a smirk. We knew why she loved it here even more. I took a quick look at my phone. I saw a message from Joe:

Hey Ben, it’s me, Joe. I just wanted to ask you, if you and your friends would like to join me on a little tour with my boat tomorrow. I’d be happy to welcome you four on board :) Text me if you got time. xx Joe  
9.00 pm

I sighted heavily. Gwil looked at me confused and I just shook my head. 

“It’s nothing. Joe just invited us on a boat tour tomorrow. But I don’t know if…” 

“Oi, that sounds amazing! Tell him yes immediately!”, Gwil interrupted me excited. 

“It sounds really cool, indeed”, Rami said, then he looked at Lucy: “Luce, do you want to go too?” 

Lucy smiled at him, then nodded at me with a knowing stare: “Yes, I’d love to. And you, Ben?” 

I looked at her with a subtle scaredness in my eyes. 

“Um, yeah I guess so, but…”, I tried to talk them out of it, but Lucy interrupted: “Why not, Ben? We don’t have any plans for tomorrow, let’s join Joe and maybe get to know him better.” 

She looked at Rami and Gwil for supporting words, and Rami nodded in agreement: “Lucy is right, why not. He invited us and it would be rude to decline such an offer.”

I had no chance. I just sighted and surrendered. This discussion was unwinnable.

“Should I text him right now?”, I asked them, with my phone in hand. 

“Yes, tell him we’d love to come. And let’s send him a picture as well”, Lucy suddenly suggested. I just said nothing and texted:

Hey Joe :) I just asked them, and they agreed to accept your kind offer. A big thank you from them. And from me of course. Should we bring anything? And when do we meet?   
9.20 pm

I hesitated before I sent the message. He had sent the message with x’s. Should I send some as well? Ah, fuck it, I thought, and put two x’s at the end of my message.   
I had to think about the kiss from today and had to smile. It still felt kind of magical. It had been so perfect. I wanted him to be here with me. With that thought I took a selfie of the four of us and send it to Joe. I need to come here with him again, I thought.  
After we took some pictures of the sunset we waited until the sun was gone. We packed our things hurriedly and hasted back into the direction of our home, because we didn’t want to go down the hill when it was completely dark. When we arrived at our house, I checked my phone again, and I saw two text messages from Joe:

Cool! I’m already excited for tomorrow. Greetinsg back at Lucy, Rami and Gwil :D  
10.00 pm

And by the way, the pic you sent is really cute. I like your smile :)  
10.02 pm

When I read the second message I immediately started to blush. I smiled at my phone, and Lucy noticed right away. 

“What did he text back? I’m just asking because you have the biggest smile on your face I’ve ever seen”, she asked, her voice low to not expose me to our friends.

I shook my head blushing even harder and gave her my phone. I immediately regretted this decision. She started typing something and before I could even react, she sent a message to Joe. 

I looked at her in shook: “What did you text him?!” 

She gave me the phone back with a laugh and went to the living room, where the others sat. I took a look at my phone.

Thanks, Joe. I like you too :)   
10.47 pm  
seen   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked that chapter :)   
> it was fun to write some dialogs


	6. Chapter 6

“What do you think that means?” 

“What? He didn’t even text back! He just saw your message.” 

Lucy sat on my bed, she had a cup of tea in her hands and took a sip. She seemed calm, while I was walking up and down my room, going on about my dilemma.   
Joe had seen the message Lucy had sent, but hadn’t responded to it, so I went a little crazy on that. 

My friend looked at me: “Look, it’s already late, maybe he was tired and didn’t want to respond anymore. Or maybe he fell asleep, I don’t know.” 

I glared at her with disbelieve and sat down next to her.

“Why am I even going crazy about this?” 

Lucy smiled at me: “Because you like him. That’s why I sent him that message. Now he knows what you want. It’s his turn now to tell you how he feels about you.” 

I sighted and she hugged me with one arm, and I leaned into the touch. 

“Everything will be alright, Ben. Don’t worry too much. Just wait for a response and if he doesn’t text back today, then wait until tomorrow. We’ll see him and then you can maybe talk to him. I mean, it could be hard to be alone on a little boat, but we’ll leave you two alone, I’ll make sure of that, and then you two maybe get to talk in private. And maybe even more than talk.”

Lucy winked at me, formed a kissing mouth and made kissing noises. I boxed her and laughed at her stupid behavior. 

“Ow, hey! I’m just saying, maybe when you two both figure out that you’re completely head over heels for each other, a second kiss wouldn’t be that unexpected. Anyways, we should go to sleep now, tomorrow is going to be an interesting day. Especially for you”, she winked at me again, then hugged me good night and went to her room. 

I smiled and shook my head. I kept staring at the message Lucy had sent Joe and the panic inside me rose again.   
I kept waiting for a message for several minutes but decided to go to sleep, because it was nearly midnight. 

I didn’t sleep well that night, because the thought of the unanswered message raced through my head for hours.   
When I went downstairs, my friends were ready to leave.   
During the walk to the little haven where Joe was waiting for us, the others kept going on and on about how excited they were for todays plan.   
I didn’t quite listen to them because my anxiety kicked in again. What should I say to Joe? Should I even say anything? Or just not talk to him at all? Should I tell him that it was Lucy, who sent the message?   
The racing thoughts in my head suddenly stopped completely when we arrived at the haven.   
The moment I spotted Joe, the way he was leaning against the railing of his boat, smiling when he spotted us.   
This small gesture, which was really nothing special, turned my stomach into butterflies, a warm feeling spread in my chest and I couldn’t stop myself from a beaming smile at only the sight of this man I had met a few days ago. He completely captured me with his whole being.   
This man had the ability to make me feel like everything was going to be alright. His smile alone made all the anxious thoughts disappear from my mind and I suddenly wasn’t worried about talking to Joe anymore.   
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from his, not even when all the others probably already noticed.   
We got on his boat and he hugged each one of us. When it was my turn to receive a hug he smiled at me with a look in his eyes I couldn’t quite read. He pulled me into a tight hug that felt like an eternity and at the same time much too short. When we broke apart, Lucy glanced at me knowingly and winked. I gave her a death glare and she just laughed. 

“Are you ready for our tour?”, Joe asked us, and everyone nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go, captain Joe”, Gwil shouted jokingly, and saluted.

When Joe pulled the boat out of the haven onto the open sea he started to tell us some random facts about sailing, the island itself and about the cliffs we could see on the horizon. Gwil seemed really interested in the stories Joe told us, Rami was rather interested in Lucy, who was standing at the peak of the boat, trying to spot dolphins with her binoculars. I went up to Rami and pushed my shoulder against his.

“Just ask her out on a date, mate. It’s really not that difficult.” 

Rami looked at me with big eyes: “How do you know that I-“ 

“Oh come on, everyone can see it! I’m sure she’ll be happy if you ask her.” 

“But what if she-“

I interrupted him again: “She won’t say no, I’m pretty sure about that. I mean, who could say no to you.” 

I winked at him. He smiled but shook his head in disbelieve. Still, he took a deep breath and walked up to Lucy.   
I couldn’t hear what they were talking, but Lucy’s impression gave away, that she was more than happy that he had asked her, she smiled brightly at Rami and started blushing a bit, then nodded.

Gwil and Joe had noticed the two as well, and Gwil quietly said: “Finally.”

After a while Joe steered the boat into a beautiful bay, where no people were in sight and the only sounds were the waves and the sea guls. He let the anchor down into the water and Rami and Gwil immediately jumped into the sea. Lucy stayed on the boat, because she still couldn’t get in touch with salt water, her wound still hurted a bit. Instead she sat down at the peak, where she was standing and started watching Rami and Gwil, who had fun in the water.   
I sat down next to Joe, who took a seat on the little bench next to the steering wheel and we both were silent for a moment. 

I felt the anxiety again, but before it could completely compel me and shut me up completely, I bursted out: “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t just have sent that text yesterday, it was too forward, and we agreed to go slow with everything and then I was so stupid and ruined everything and-“ 

Joe shushed me: “It’s okay, Benny. I like you too.” 

He took my hand in his, and just left me starstruck, looking at our intertwined fingers in confusion, letting my gaze wander to meet his eyes. 

“But why didn’t you reply to the text?” 

“I wanted to tell you in person. I’m not really the guy that texts that often, so I just wanted to wait until I could tell you in your beautiful face.” 

I started blushing again and brushed my thumb over his hand. 

“You know…it was actually Lucy who sent the message. Now I definitely owe her something”, I said quietly, before I started laughing. 

Joe looked at me for a moment, then began to laugh as well. 

“Say her thank you from me as well”, Joe giggled and that alone made me fall for him even more.

Everything he did or said made me fall in love more with the man from New York. 

“Well, she’s much braver than I am.” 

I blushed and broke the eye contact with him. Suddenly I felt his hand caressing my cheek, wandering to my chin, and turning my head back to him. 

“No, Ben. You are brave.” 

He looked at me, his hazel eyes full of honesty. In that moment I completely forgot about the fact that my friends could easily spot us, but I honestly didn’t care.   
I put a hand on his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. He immediately started to kiss me back, his movements synchronizing with mine. His lips felt so soft on mine, made me feel safe and started a fire in my stomach at the same time. I felt his hand on my hip and his other stroking my cheek lightly.   
When we pulled back to catch out breaths, I started to notice everything around us again. I glanced in the direction, where my friends where, but only Lucy seemed to have noticed, but she was still watching the boys,though she had a knowing grin on her lips . 

“Do you want to join them?”, I asked, and Joe smiled: “Sure. Come on, love.” 

He stood up and pulled me to my feet. He let go of my hand then, which felt like he completely vanished from my side.   
In that moment I decided, that tonight I’d invite Joe to dinner in our house again, so I could finally tell my friends about him.   
About us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh I'm so happy with this chapter, hope you like it too :)


	7. Chapter 7

We had much fun with Rami and Gwil but I soon got out of the water again, because Lucy was sitting on the boat on her own, so I decided to join her and ask her about what Rami had asked her. 

“Hey, Lucy. So…what did Rami tell you because you haven’t stopped smiling since.”

“Well, he asked me if I’d like to go out with him once we’re back from our holidays”, she said, her cheeks red, and a big smile on her lips.

“And what did you say?”

“I said no.”

I looked at her with shock and she started laughing.

“I obviously said yes, dumbass!”

“Okay, yes, that clearly makes more sense”, I giggled. 

“And what exactly were you and Joe talking about? Because I tried to eavesdrop, but all I could hear were kissing noises.” 

She wiggled her eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes. 

“Well, I’d tell you if you’d stop teasing me for one second”, I jokingly said. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop, but it’s just too cute.”

“Anyways, I was apologizing for the message YOU sent, and he interrupted me and told me that it was okay because he likes me too.” 

I couldn’t keep myself from smiling at that thought. Joe Mazzello liked me. He liked me for who I was, and that thought alone made me feel warm inside. 

“Yeah, and then what? Then you kissed him till he forgot his name or what?”

Lucy clearly wanted me to go on with my story, so I said: “Yeah, basically.” 

Unsatisfied with my answer, Lucy rolled her eyes: “Details, darling, it’s all about the details.” 

“Well, what exactly do you want to hear? That he kissed me and it was the most perfect thing ever? That I’m so in love with a man I met a few days ago? What else do you want to know?”

Lucy, now satisfied with what I told her, shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess that’s ok to start with.”

I just wanted to answer with a sarcastic comment, when the boys got back onto the boat. Joe walked towards me, with a smirk on his face. I looked at him with big eyes, not exactly sure what he was planning. Then he hugged me and I felt the wetness on his skin covering my body. 

“Ahhhh stop it, you’re cold!”, I exclaimed and pushed him away from me with a laugh.   
After everyone was dressed again, we sailed back to the haven. It was already afternoon and we all were getting hungry.

As soon as we arrived I turned to Joe: “Thanks for the tour today, Joe. Would you like to join us for dinner? I won’t cook something fancy today though, so don’t expect too much.”   
“I’d love to come”, he said, with a big smile on his face. 

I cooked us a simple dinner, a casserole with vegetables, nothing special, but still delicious.   
When I served the food, everyone still complimented me on how good it tasted. I blushed at the compliments and drowned my drink with one swallow. Compliments sometimes made me uncomfortable. But not only the compliments made me quiet.   
I thought about how I should tell my friends about Joe and I. Should I just tell them straight away? But what if they are uncomfortable with the fact that their best friend is in love with a man? Or would they just accept it? 

I wanted to stop time just so I could think about it for a while, but Lucy suddenly said: “A toast! To a wonderful day with wonderful people!”

While everyone took a sip, Lucy glared at me over her glass. She knew I wanted to tell my two friends about Joe. 

I breathed in deeply, looked over at Joe and said with an unsteady voice: “And a toast to you guys. For begging me to go on holidays to this island.” 

I got quiet for a moment, then I took Joe’s hand in mine and intertwined our fingers. “Because otherwise I wouldn’t have met Joe. Otherwise I wouldn’t be that happy.”

After my little speech, I looked at my friends. I felt Joe’s hand in mine, he squeezed my hand comfortingly. Gwil and Rami really were speechless, but the looks on their faces were just confusion. There was a weird silence for a few seconds, but then Gwil said: “It makes sense. Joe is pretty handsome.” And Rami joined: “Ben as well. What a power couple!” Lucy giggled and soon we all were laughing. I felt such a relieve after this laugh, like all the worries I had the whole evening had disappeared. Lucy then chuckled: “It was probably Ben’s cooking that convinced Joe in the end.” 

We all started to laugh again. I was so happy that my friends were so accepting straight away. They were totally okay with me being with a man. And it also helped, that they didn’t ask about my sexuality. I still didn’t have an answer to that question myself. 

A couple of drinks and nice conversations later, I put on a mix of my favorite Queen songs again and sat back down on the couch next to Joe. Rami and Lucy whispered with each other and were cuddling on the other couch and Gwil texted with his girlfriend back home.   
I leaned against Joe and for a while we just listened to Freddy Mercury “Love of my life”. After that song “White Queen” started playing and I felt Joe’s arm moving from around my shoulder. I looked at him and he just smiled at me and said: “Can I have this dance, Benjamin?” 

I smiled at him: “Of course, Joseph.”

We stood up and started to sway to the music. With his hands on my hips Joe guided me and I put my arms around his neck. I could stay like this for ever.   
When the song ended, I couldn’t hold myself back anymore and gave Joe a little peck onto his lips. When I opened my eyes again, Joe sent a beaming smile at me. I smiled back at him. From the corner of my eyes I noticed Lucy taking a picture. I glanced at her, but she had already put her phone away and snuggled against Rami’s side again.   
Suddenly, a thought hit me. A thought which I had suppressed since I figured out that I had feelings for Joe. What was going to happen after our holiday? Would he go back to New York, I’d go back to London and we’d start to lose contact or not even try a long-distance relationship?   
At that thought my grip around Joe tightened for a moment and he noticed. His questioning stare was too much for me.

“I need some air”, I said with a low voice, and rushed outside. As soon as I had closed the door behind me and felt the sand under my feet, I sank to the floor. I sat there for a few seconds, trying to catch my breath. Then I heard the door opening and closing and when I gazed up, I saw Joe’s worried face. 

“Love, what’s wrong? Are you feeling alright?” 

“I’m…fine. Just needed to think about something…”

“Well, you don’t seem fine. Do you want to talk about it?”

I sighted. I guess we needed to discuss that topic anyways.

“It’s just…I thought about what would happen after these holidays. Do you think we could have a long-distance relationship? Or do you not even want to try it?"

Joe sat down next to me, took my hand in his and started quietly: “How could you even think that I didn’t want it to try, Ben?”

I just shrugged my shoulders, enjoying feeling his warmth next to me. 

“I actually wanted to talk about this today, but the right moment somehow never came.”

I already thought about the way he’d break my heart with his next few words. 

“I do live in New York. But because of my restaurants in the UK I have a small flat there as well. Also, I’m in London nearly every week, so I’m sure that we could work something out. That is if you want it to work?”

I looked at him with disbelieve  
.   
“Of course I want it to work. I want to be with you, I want everyone to know that we’re together. That is…if we are together?” 

Joe smiled fondly at me: “Benjamin Jones, are you asking me to be your boyfriend?”

I smiled back at him, blushing: “If you’ll say yes?”

“Of course, Ben. How could I ever say no to you?” 

The joy I felt after he said those words were nearly too much for me. And this joy got even bigger, when he leaned in to close the gap between us and I felt his warm lips on mine again.   
It felt like coming home. It felt like I finally had found my missing piece. It felt so real. 

I love Joe, I thought. I love him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, I forgot to update yesterday :0  
> and btw I actually wanted to end this story after this chapter but I somehow didn't want to let these two go with that ending...  
> so if you like this ending you can scip the last chapter that is about to come or just enjoy super fluff in the next and last chapter :)  
> however you decide, I hope you had fun reading this and have a lovely day ^^


	8. Chapter 8

“And when are you going to ask him?” 

Lucy looked at Joe with a curious stare.

“It’s our five-year anniversary on Saturday, so I wanted to do something special. I want to ask him where we met. He already knows that I want to go to my beach house this weekend, but I don’t think he suspects that I’ll ask him to marry me.” Joe smiled at that thought. He was going to ask Ben to marry him. 

After the holidays they went on many dates, some even together with Lucy and Rami. These two married last year and were planning on starting a family soon.   
Ben and Joe grew closer and after two years of their relationship, Joe asked Ben to move in with him in his flat in London. Ben had started a career in one of the restaurants that Joe managed. He had started to work there after their holiday. Joe had asked one of his chef cooks to meet up with Ben and after he saw, how good he could cook, he was more than happy to welcome Ben to work at the restaurant.  
Joe had decided that he wanted to be with Ben for the rest of his live a few months ago. (He had known it for quite some time now, but the thought of actually marrying manifested a few months ago.) These months were filled with planning for this moment. He wanted it to be perfect. Everything had to work out. He had already bought the ring and thought about what he’d say probably 24/7. He was always so nervous, because the feeling that something might not go the way he wanted it to, was always in his mind. He was anxious about what would happen, if Ben would find the ring, or what if he’d say no. Many other small inconveniences as well. But he hadn’t planned for one small thing…

“Hey, love!” 

Ben gave Joe a little peck on the lips to greet him. 

“Hey yourself! How was work, darling?” 

“Hard, we had to make a wedding cake today…it was about the size of our table.” 

The word wedding made Joe sweat. 

“I just started packing our stuff for Saturday. Are you excited to go to the beach again? Cause I definitely am.” 

Ben smiled, and stroked Joe’s cheek: “I’m excited to be back at the place I first met you. And to celebrate our anniversary there.” 

Joe just smiled to hide his anxiety. What if Ben had already figured everything out? He didn’t want to go on talking about wedding cakes, so he pulled Ben into a long kiss. Kissing Ben still felt like the best thing in the whole world, even after five years of being together. They were interrupted by the ringing of Ben’s mobile. Joe made a frown when Ben pulled back and looked at his phone. 

“It’s my boss”, he said. Even though the restaurants belonged to Joe, every restaurant had another manager. 

During the phone call, Ben’s expression changed from happy to concerned and…sad? 

“What’s wrong, babe?”, Joe asked, after Ben had hung up.

“My boss told me I have to work on Saturday…”

No, Joe thought. The one thing he didn’t plan for. He stood up slowly and walked towards the window. He felt like hyperventilating. His perfect plan was ruined. 

“I’m so sorry, Joe. But we can celebrate our anniversary next weekend, it’s not that big of a problem. Let’s just go to the beach house next Saturday.”

Joe said nothing. He still tried not to break down into tears. This moment should’ve been perfect. What now? Ben came up to him and hugged him from behind.

“Are you alright?”, he asked, concerned.

That was enough for Joe to start crying. He makes a few steps away from Ben and turns around to face him.

“Are you for real?”, he nearly screamed at him.

Ben just looked starstruck at Joe’s outbreak but didn’t say anything. 

Joe kept on going: “I’m obviously not fine. Everything I planned is ruined now!”

Ben didn’t say a word. After five years together with Joe he had learned that he better shut up when Joe was that furious.

“I wanted everything to be perfect when I ask you to marry me!” 

Tears were still streaming down Joe’s face and he just looked at Ben, who looked even more confused than before. 

“You wanted to ask me to marry you?” 

“Of course! I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you!” Joe said, not screaming anymore, but still half crying.

Joe walked over to the already packed suitcase, took out a little box, took a deep breath and went down on one knee. 

Ben held a hand over his mouth and whispered: “You’re so crazy.”

“Yes I am and I’m sorry that it’s not that romantic anymore. That’s probably my fault because I literally screamed at you. But that doesn’t change the fact that I want to spent the rest of my life with you. Ben, you’re the love of my life. Will you marry me?”

Ben, now also sobbing just nods, goes down on his knees as well to cup Joe’s face with his hands and kissed him. 

When he pulled away he said: “Of course I want to marry you, stupid. I love you, Joe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for takin a bit longer to post the final chapter but I really didn't want this story to end cause I put so much work and effort into it and I just love it so much   
> anywayyys thanks for reading this far and I hope you liked it at least a bit :)  
> love you all :*


End file.
